Explosives Industry News

Congratulations to Hollie Jacob for taking home a free registration to the 49th Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique by snapping the winning Best in Show shot. Her stunning picture was taken during the demolition of the Rugeley Power Station cooling towers.

 

Visit our Facebook page to see all of this year’s entries.

A big kudos goes out to Joseph Grant, who won the first-ever photo contest People’s Choice Award. Joseph’s picture was taken during the demolition of the 34-story, reinforced concrete Plaza Tower in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Enjoy your 18th Edition Blasters’ Handbook prize, Joseph!

 

Visit our Facebook page to see all this year’s photo contest entries.

Join us March 16-17, 2022, at the DoubleTree Columbus – Worthington Hotel for the 2022 Ohio Drilling and Blasting Conference.

 

Ohio Drilling kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16 with a welcome reception that runs to 7:30 p.m. On Thursday, learn about various topics like Airblast Principles and Measurement; Rock Breakage Theory; Underground Limestone Blast Optimization; Often Overlooked Facets of D & B Design; An Urban Nightmare Blasting Project; Airblast & Ground Vibration Issues; and Quality Control of Bulk Product.

 

Although retraining credit hours have been accepted in the past by a number of states, please check with your state regulators to be sure you receive the proper retraining credit hours from this conference.

 

The DoubleTree Hotel, 175 Hutchinson Ave., is located just off the I-270/US Rt.23 North Interchange. A block of rooms has been reserved at the DoubleTree Hotel. Call (614) 885-3334 or 1-800-870-0349 with rates for the conference at $99 single/double. Conference participants are responsible for their own lodging arrangements and should identify themselves with the Ohio Drilling and Blasting Conference when making reservations.

 

Reservations must be made no later than March 3, 2022.

What a great way to start the new year. The annual conference was a blast with 115 exhibitors and over 1,400 people from around the world meeting again in person Jan. 28 - Feb. 2, 2022, at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., for the 48th Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique.

 

The conference was packed full of technical and poster sessions, workshops and industry socials. We can't wait to see what's in store next year when we go to San Antonio, Texas!

 

The Kentucky Bluegrass Chapter was awarded the Chapter Membership Award; Roger Holmberg was awarded the Distinguished Service Award; John Vynne was awarded the Blasthole Drill Industry Leadership Award; Mike Cave was awarded the Blasters Leadership; Charlie Pollard and Jeff Taylor received the Industry Service award; Nathan Craig won the Driller of the Year, Australasia; Michael Machia won the Driller of the Year, North America; The President's award was awarded to: Ralph Burnham, Kelly Ratliff, Brian Lewis, and Ron Gilbert; Juan Navarro won Paper of the Year.

 

Board Announcements
Braden Lusk, Dyno Nobel, Missouri, became the newest ISEE Board of Directors President during the passing of the gavel ceremony. Janeen Smith, J. Smith & Associates, LLC, moved to Vice President of Administration; John Watson moved to Technical Vice President; Kristen Kolden, Alaska Seismic & Environmental, moved to Treasurer; Doug Hoy moved to Secretary.

 

The following were voted onto the board and officially began their new roles: Billy Obermire; Matt Spina; Frank Lucca and Toby Wallace.

 

The following Directors were re-elected: Travis Davidsavor; Mark Dean; Johan Gjødvad; Enrique Munaretti; Richard O’Meara; Thomas Palangio, Jr.; Cesar Velasco; Luis Velasquez and Kristie Allen-Bishop.

The Blasters Weekend included a training seminar on Saturday designed specifically for the blaster in the field. The seminar qualified for blasters re-training hours in several states. Morning instructors and topics included: Welcome and Introduction, Larry Mirabelli, Blasters Training Committee Chairman Securing Explosive Materials: A Prime Responsibility of Industry - Ric Hosley, Connecticut Explosives Company (presented by Janeen Smith); Fundamentals of Blast Design - Joe Nawrocki, Dyno Nobel, Inc.; Loading Bulk Blasting Agents and Quality Control on the Bench - Evan Hagenlock, Austin Powder Company; and Optimizing the Use of Electronic Detonators - Gavin Yuill, ENAEX USA.

In the afternoon, two workshops were held in two concurrent sessions: Field Practice Guideline for Blasting Seismographs Workshop – Cathy Aimone Martin, Aimone-Martin Associates LLC, Facilitator and ATF Explosive Storage Regulations Workshop – William Joa, Dyno Nobel, Inc., Facilitator.

Sunday included a repeat of the Seismograph workshop, a fall protection workshop (facilitator Lewis Clarke), the regulatory panel discussion, video roundup and welcome reception in the exhibit hall where blasters had the opportunity to view the latest product innovations in blasting technology.

It was a great turn out Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, as nearly 250 people headed out to the Mob Museum for the Emerging Professionals Social.

 

Situated in a three-floor historical U.S. Post Office and Courthouse built in 1933, the Mob Museum is full of historical relics from the olden days of bootlegging and organized crime. Attendees were treated to food and drinks as they walked the halls of this one-of-a-kind museum.

 

Recognition awards were given out in the evening to the volunteers who helped with the Explosives Everyday! project, including: Jim Redyke, Roberto Folchi, Ron Gilbert, Mark Johnson, Amanda Mclean, Tassilo Baur, Richard O'Meara, Jim Daley, Jason Baird, Brian Gorsage, Mark Ganster, Kyle Perry, Jerry Wallace, Kristen Kolden, Jared Redyke, Chuck Dowding, Cathy Aimone-Martin, Joseph Meyers, Ralph Burnham, Kelly Ratliff, Kristie Bishop, Brian Lewis, Johan Gjodvad and Drew Martin. Alastair Torrance was recognized for his role as the series host, and Travis Davidsavor was recognized for his contribution as project lead and moderator for each episode.

The Grand Network Gala was the perfect way to celebrate a successful conference! Among those in attendance were Cher and Elton John look-alikes. Rat Pack members Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Frank Sinatra also made surprise appearances. Attendees were treated to a variety of tasty food options including ISEE cupcakes and a seafood bar! This truly was a must-attend event.

Get ready! ISEE's Call for Abstracts/Papers for the 2023 Conference in San Antonio opens April 18. The best way to make sure you get the official announcement is to be an ISEE member! Papers addressing the following topics will be specifically invited: Blasting Safety and Explosives Security; Risk Assessment/Legal; Environmental Improvement; Close Proximity Blasting; Drill to Mill Optimization; Demolition Blasting; Quarry Blasting; Underwater Blasting; Digital Imaging and Analysis; Underground Blasting; Blast Vibration and Seismology; Electronic Detonators; Cast Blasting and Open Pit; Explosives for Oil Extraction; Construction Blasting; Blast Design; Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS); Blasting and Explosives Research; Fragmentation Modeling/Measurement; Basic Drilling Practices; Driller/Blaster Communication; Case Histories: Problems & Solutions; Public and Media Relations.

 

See the Call for Papers PDF for more details!